I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

[platamama]

Has anyone ever booked an excursion through tripadvisor?

One we are looking at is available through Viator and tripadvisor for the same price. Trip advisor is on rakuten though, so thinking of going with them.

Viator and TripAdvisor are the same company. Last month I booked an excursion through TripAdvisor and got the confirmation email from TA, and the charge showed up on my cc as Viator. I ended up canceling that excursion and the cancellation email came from TA and the cc refund from Viator. Check your Chase offers, I have 10% off TripAdvisor excursions on some of my cards.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I was ALL about SPG may it RIP, when I didn't get upgraded as lifetime platinum with Marriott and argued over a 10$ breakfast credit I've been all team hyatt, I have only booked Marriot once in the last few years. Saying this it could all change tomorrow and I could become a free agent.

I totally feel your pain. SPG was amazing! It's often cheaper to pay cash than use points with Marriott and way fewer upgrades.

 

[Judique]

I'm so frustrated with the little things. Panera is offering 20% off on gift cards. I also have 3 different credit cards with 10% off, so if I reload $25 times 3 on my reloadable card (using each credit card) I'll have $75 for $54 or a 28% discount.

Since I tend to do Panera a lot, it works for me. And the 'little' things add up nicely in my experience.

However, you can only load one time in 24 hours, and you can only check your balance so many times (1? 2? 3?) before you 'can't check your balance'! So stupid! I checked the balance on an empty card and then loaded the first $25. Then it wouldn't let me check the balance after a couple of hours. I was just able to check it by phone and the $25 had landed, but couldn't load the 2nd $25 until 24 hours have passed!

I guess this is some fraud prevention thingy I should be grateful for. Now I have to set an alarm to remind me to load the card again, because 'old' can't remember and will forget!!

 

[reliev]

That's accurate. I didn't even know there was 3rd party apps you can use for reddit until last week when this all popped up. Apparently reddit wants to charge too much for the 3rd party apps.

A few of the channels I follow have gone dark, not sure they are doing it all 3 days or not.even

Not sure what got starred out, if it was a bad worked or a banned site. Only options I saw were flyertalk, Doc comments and ******* which I don't think is an alternative to a message board.

Eta huh that was not what I expected to be banned but I'm also not surprised.

developer/nerd here, so basically Reddit wants to charge 3rd party apps which are over 70% of all reddits traffic millions of dollars a month for access, ALL of them cant afford it so they will go under if the fees were reasonable say 1-3$ per month for the user a lot of people said they would pay for it but right now Reddit wants to charge 10-100x that per user to use the API, this is where the darkness comes from. I may quit Reddit if it doesn't work I rarely use it on a desktop.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I'm so frustrated with the little things. Panera is offering 20% off on gift cards. I also have 3 different credit cards with 10% off, so if I reload $25 times 3 on my reloadable card (using each credit card) I'll have $75 for $54 or a 28% discount.

Since I tend to do Panera a lot, it works for me. And the 'little' things add up nicely in my experience.

However, you can only load one time in 24 hours, and you can only check your balance so many times (1? 2? 3?) before you 'can't check your balance'! So stupid! I checked the balance on an empty card and then loaded the first $25. Then it wouldn't let me check the balance after a couple of hours. I was just able to check it by phone and the $25 had landed, but couldn't load the 2nd $25 until 24 hours have passed!

I guess this is some fraud prevention thingy I should be grateful for. Now I have to set an alarm to remind me to load the card again, because 'old' can't remember and will forget!!

I feel you. My experience exactly. Love me some Panera and I go frequently so I'll power through, but it is frustrating.

 

[platamama]

I went a little crazy last night and made reservations for DH & I to go to Bora Bora in 2024. Originally I was targeting the Maldives, but DH was concerned over how far that is from the US, so I started looking at Bora Bora instead. I have us flying out on UA Polaris lie flat J in the Dreamliner, staying 2 nts in Papeete (day trip to Moorea?), 2 nts at Conrad Bora Bora, and 5 nts at St. Regis Bora Bora - all booked on points & miles for a trip that so far rings in just shy of $25K. I am still trying to figure out the flight home, and that has me a little nervous...

That has us in French Polynesia for 9 nights and I'm wondering if that's too long? Tagging @wanderlust7 and @calypso726 since Calypso was just there and Wanderlust was there last year. Thoughts/advice?

 

[newski_mom]

developer/nerd here, so basically Reddit wants to charge 3rd party apps which are over 70% of all reddits traffic millions of dollars a month for access, ALL of them cant afford it so they will go under if the fees were reasonable say 1-3$ per month for the user a lot of people said they would pay for it but right now Reddit wants to charge 10-100x that per user to use the API, this is where the darkness comes from. I may quit Reddit if it doesn't work I rarely use it on a desktop.

Non-techy person here. What exactly do you mean by 3rd party apps? I have the reddit app on my phone - is that what you're talking about? I will say, I typically use it on my laptop because I like the big screen!

 

[Albort]

Non-techy person here. What exactly do you mean by 3rd party apps? I have the reddit app on my phone - is that what you're talking about? I will say, I typically use it on my laptop because I like the big screen!

the main one is Apollo, its a 3rd party app that uses a function of reddit, that function is now going into paid function.
reddit app(assuming its the official one) is not affected. Reddit wants you to actually use that one instead of a 3rd party app.

if your using the browser version on your laptop, you shouldnt be affected by any of this.

 

[newski_mom]

the main one is Apollo, its a 3rd party app that uses a function of reddit, that function is now going into paid function.
reddit app(assuming its the official one) is not affected. Reddit wants you to actually use that one instead of a 3rd party app.

if your using the browser version on your laptop, you shouldnt be affected by any of this.

Thanks - makes sense. I didn't realize you could access through a non-reddit app

 

[Haley R]

Dh is considering applying for the Amex biz platinum card and paying ahead on things to meet the spend quickly so we can book through BA instead. This is a last resort for us but if the dates start getting pushed back too far we may have to.

 

[MarBee]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a travel insurance outside of a credit card?

I always books on my CSP for the travel insurance, but I had to change an upcoming award booking that had to be done by phone. I had the customer service rep pay for the $5.60 fees with the “card on file,” not realizing it was my AA card that offers nothing in the way of insurance.

Now I’m paranoid we will be delayed/cancelled since our midday return flight home is only half full. I am thinking the best thing to do is to add on trip insurance that offers delay/cancellation benefits. However, I was burnt in my younger years by a travel insurance company, so I’m apprehensive.

Do any of you experienced travelers have any recommendations?

 

[becauseimnew]

Does anyone know if

Dh is considering applying for the Amex biz platinum card and paying ahead on things to meet the spend quickly so we can book through BA instead. This is a last resort for us but if the dates start getting pushed back too far we may have to.

There is a 200,000 offer out there
https://frequentmiler.com/200000-membership-rewards-amex-business-platinum/
I've also been able to pull 130,000 on the Biz Gold using a support link.

 

[Haley R]

Does anyone know if

There is a 200,000 offer out there
https://frequentmiler.com/200000-membership-rewards-amex-business-platinum/
I've also been able to pull 130,000 on the Biz Gold using a support link.

The 200k offer is the one dh saw and is planning to get if we need it. The spend is big and the AF is also but we can make it work if we have to. I would hate to not be able to use our AA points though

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

We’ve been looking at biz class also. There has been lots of availability out of SFO but all of the sudden they’re being filled right before switching to AA. They just started a deal on BA recently where you can buy points or something. I’m not sure. Dh was looking at it so maybe that’s why more seats are being taken

Not sure if this would work, but since you have some Avios, could you book the outbound flights on BA, essentially "holding them" and then cancel right around when they release to AA, hoping they'd pop into AA inventory? It's risky and I think there's like a $50/pp cancel fee, but that's a heck of a lot less spend than $15k or $695 for the Biz Plat annual fee.
This is a shot in the dark...

 

[platamama]

The 200k offer is the one dh saw and is planning to get if we need it. The spend is big and the AF is also but we can make it work if we have to. I would hate to not be able to use our AA points though

Have you clicked all the way through to "Apply Now"? The offer disappears for both me and DH once I actually go to apply. Just would hate for you to rely on that offer being real and not a phantom offer as it is for us.

 

[Haley R]

Not sure if this would work, but since you have some Avios, could you book the outbound flights on BA, essentially "holding them" and then cancel right around when they release to AA, hoping they'd pop into AA inventory? It's risky and I think there's like a $50/pp cancel fee, but that's a heck of a lot less spend than $15k or $695 for the Biz Plat annual fee.
This is a shot in the dark...

Dh mentioned trying this. We actually don’t have Avios. We have URs we were going to transfer to BA if we have to. I wonder if they show up on AA immediately after being cancelled on BA?

 

[Haley R]

Have you clicked all the way through to "Apply Now"? The offer disappears for both me and DH once I actually go to apply. Just would hate for you to rely on that offer being real and not a phantom offer as it is for us.

You’re right. I tried and it said it isn’t available

 

[afan]

Dh mentioned trying this. We actually don’t have Avios. We have URs we were going to transfer to BA if we have to. I wonder if they show up on AA immediately after being cancelled on BA?

I think there's been mention of some weird stuff with booking jal, and maybe other partner airlines, through aa online recently. Can't check reddit though.

When you search on AA are the coach seats showing up or no flight at all. Is BA showing biz or 1st available when AA should have it?

If they are I would call AA about booking. Searching partner awards and booking online doesn't always work.

 

[becauseimnew]

Dh mentioned trying this. We actually don’t have Avios. We have URs we were going to transfer to BA if we have to. I wonder if they show up on AA immediately after being cancelled on BA?

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/award-ticket-holds/

You might call AF to see if they will hold the tickets for you and then call them back after the AA release day to cancel the hold?

 

[Haley R]

I think there's been mention of some weird stuff with booking jal, and maybe other partner airlines, through aa online recently. Can't check reddit though.

When you search on AA are the coach seats showing up or no flight at all. Is BA showing biz or 1st available when AA should have it?

If they are I would call AA about booking. Searching partner awards and booking online doesn't always work.

The flights are filling up on BA before being released to AA. It’s not an issue with AA. It’s just that we’ve seen great availability and all of a sudden the flights are filling up in May on BA’s website